Activity/Play PROJECT
Working with children can be very challenging especially those children that are confined to a hospital bed or restricted environment. Children, especially young children, need to be distracted or engaged in activities in order meet their developmental milestones and also for nurses to be able to provide care for them. The pediatric nurse is called upon to be innovative and creative on the spur of the moment while in the clinical setting and provide those kinds of activities that can facilitate these needs. In this assignment, the students will have an opportunity to design and create a play activity for his/her patient using materials gathered from the nursing station. The nurse must always take into consideration the growth and development of his/her patient for interest and safety when designing activities for this purpose.
Objectives: At the completion of this project the student will have an understanding of the importance of:
• Developing a sense of trust with the pediatric patient through play
• Identifying appropriate interests and activities for various age groups
• Distraction as a means for caring with pediatric patients
• Identifying items within the hospital environment that could be used as toy objects
• Creativity for designing play projects on spur of the moment
• Incorporating safety measures when designing toys for children